North Thailand Top Ten Roads

Silom

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My son (17) on a Ninja 300 and me on the Diavel had great fun on R1095 in September.
Good road conditions!
He made this YouTube vid.
 
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DavidFL

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R1322 the Wiang Haeng / Piang Luang Road
A beauty of a steep & winding road through the best forest cover in the North?
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75 kms of heavenly riding
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R1322 & Wiang Haeng / Piang Luang have featured on GTR here
Piang Luang - Wiang Haeng Poi Sang long 2015

Chiang Mai - Wiang Haeng - Piang Luang. On the trail of King Naresuan.

1322 - To Lak Taeng and Back

Tham Ngop and a MHS loop

If you're a dirt rider then you have some nice dirt options from Wiang Haeng
A sunny days ride from Pai to Fang via Wiang Haeng.

The Chong Loop

A Dirty Affair

Pai - Kong Lom off road, Chong - Fang via Nor Lae
 

DavidFL

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The Phu Phayak road R1307
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that goes to the last communist battle ground & (new 2005) museum honoring the fallen communist fighters.
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The full story on GTR here:
Return to Nan & back to the future?
 

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DavidFL

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DavidFL

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Well this could soon be the best one...R1290 Chiang Saen to Chiang Khong.??
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They have done an amazing job rebuilding R1290 alongside the Mekong, upstream from Chiang Khong & well the section from the Huai Sai Mann viewpoint is a total adrenalin rush for me now.

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The elevation profile from the Muang Khan / R4007 turn off to the R1290 T Junction at Chiang Khong city.
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Only 13 kms but what an amazing ride. Short enough to do several runs in the late afternoon & stop for a coffee at the View


The 53 kms from Chiang Saen to Chiang Khong
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More on R1290 being reconstructed
Caution R1129 Chiang Saen - Chiang Khong
 
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princey

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Nov 5, 2017
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Yes Dave
The R1290 is a great road now, not long but with some great fast bends.

Was happy to ride the road about 8 weeks ago.
You talk about "The View Coffe shop"
But no pictures so if a may add a few so people can see how good the view is from the Coffee shop.

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Yes, this thread is about roads and not coffee shops...... but you can see the great R1290 in 2 pictures.

Now with the R105 from Mae Sariang to Mae Sot is now in good order, I put this road high on the list of roads to ride.

But add in the R1175 to Tak total 300km of great roads,
 
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Kevin P

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Apr 14, 2018
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Thank you everyone for so many great ideas for roads to ride, but I just couldn't use your knowledge to plan my routes without getting them up on a single map first - so that's what I have done (I probably missed a few along the way/couldn't find them!). Anyway, here's a map of your routes:
If anyone wants me to add more/change anything please let me know; happy to update :)

*** Unfortunately the forum software seems to have hidden my link... :-(
 
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GTR-Admin

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Now that was a very neat trick - well done! Getting a Google Map to display on the forums has been a real challenge, so your solution to that is an excellent compromise... I had NO idea you could achieve it that way! I've actually spent hours and hours trying to find a workable Xenforo add-on app... ;)

It took me a few minutes to figure out HOW you did it... I've made some notes on that here for anyone else who wants to try that:
- Inserting a Google Map into Thread / Posts
 

DavidFL

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Hanging out at the Akha Swing festival at Sam Yaek on the the Doi Mae Salong road thee's a great new viewpoint where you can see the Thoed Thai road soaring up into the mountains.
R4052
The Akha Sam Yaek - Thoed Thai road.
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An amazing sweeping steep & winding roller coaster ride
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The GPS Profile Akha Sam Yaek - Thoed Thai
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The Google Earth view
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Thoed Thai is my favourite out of the way traditional "back water" town in North Thailand.
The ex home of Khun Sa the infamous opium warlord / Shan freedom fighter.
Featured on GTR here
Prince of Death Road Trip-Khun Sa Memorial

Also on Destination Thailand TV with GTR
A fun time on the road for Destination Thailand

The best greatest Poi Sang Kong festival Ive ever had the pleasure of participating in
Poi Sang Long - 2011

Plus Shan New Year
Shan New Year 2011 Thoed Thai

Thoed Thai might be out of the way bit it should be one of the highlights of a night in the Golden Triangle for anyone.
A fabulous "wild west" town full of charm for the adventurous.

It's also the place where I go for Shan spiritual cleansing - getting rid of life's bad luck & bringing in the new luck
Thai New Year a Shan Blessing - Spirit Cleansing

Wanna check it out Thoed Thai...
Where to stay in Thoed Thai
Thoed Thai Accomodation

Where to eat in Thoed Thai
Thoed Thai Restaurants

The Thoed Thai road is on the GTR Golden Triangle map here
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You can get a GTR GT map here
Golden Triangle Map

Hanging out at the Akha Swing festival at Sam Yaek on the the Doi Mae Salong road there's a great new viewpoint where you can see the Thoed Thai road soaring up into the mountains.

GTR - IMG_8433B.JPG
 

DavidFL

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The Chong Lom / Piang Luang - Arunothai road. R1322 (1178)
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At the Chom / Piang Luang end the road climbs slowly
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But after Kae Noi there is an amazing mountain crossing up & over the headwaters of the Ping River, between Muang Nga & Kae Noi.
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A few images of the ascent on the Kae Noi side.
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Up on the ridge line
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A elevation profile of the mountain crossing.
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The total Chom - Muang Nga - Lin Lee road is considerably longer, but I did not get the full GPS track unfortunately.
Enjoy, this road is magic apart from 1-2 kms of patchy asphalt.
Use this to make a loop and hang out in Wiang Haeng or Piang Luang on GTR here:
Chiang Mai - Wiang Haeng - Piang Luang. On the trail of King Naresuan.
 

ianyonok

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Great stuff.
I did that loop about a month ago, in reverse direction. Yes, cracking roads and no traffic.
We came in on 1340 from Chai Prakarn via Sinchai to Arunothai... another marvellous road with great views looking down and east across Chai Prakarn valley.
If you have time going west, at Wiang Heang, you can extend the loop by taking the 50klm dirt road southwest to Pai, then back east on 1095.
 
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DavidFL

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Well this could soon be the best one...R1290 Chiang Saen to Chiang Khong.??
View attachment 119583

They have done an amazing job rebuilding R1290 alongside the Mekong, upstream from Chiang Khong & well the section from the Huai Sai Mann viewpoint is a total adrenalin rush for me now.

View attachment 119584

View attachment 119585

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View attachment 119587

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The elevation profile from the Muang Khan / R4007 turn off to the R1290 T Junction at Chiang Khong city.
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Only 13 kms but what an amazing ride. Short enough to do several runs in the late afternoon & stop for a coffee at the View


The 53 kms from Chiang Saen to Chiang Khong
View attachment 119589

More on R1290 being reconstructed
Caution R1129 Chiang Saen - Chiang Khong

On 24 December 2019 GTR had the pleasure of getting a sign erected on R1290 - Paradise Road - in honour of the joy & beauty of R1290.
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Don't forget to do a check in when go you past now
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The Google Maps location: Paradise Road @ Chiang Khong
 

DavidFL

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R1188 Pong - R1148
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An excellent flowing winding road that links Pong city up with R1148.

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See also
 
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DavidFL

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R4052 the Hua Mae Kham road.

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Some GTR Trip reports with R4052

 
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DavidFL

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Some how this one has been missed out - the R4009.

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The steepest road in the North?


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Zed's recent report has brought back into the limelight

Ian Yonok & Moto-Rex & Oddvar also gave it a nice write up with photos.
 

Ughetto

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Thank you
I miss 3 or 4 place you are talking about
Hope to go to enjoi soon still waiting for fix my bike....
I remember street doi pathang Phuchifa 15 years ago was not all paved.
I do 2 times this week Mae sai doi tung Mae faluang with scooter
Be careful when have many sharp near doi tung the street is full of big hole.
Many people with tend last week end there and temperature drop a lot.
Singapore road I don’know if you mentioned is not paved only for same km
I like is between doi patang direction Chiang klang.

Here same picture of Singapore road
Have a nice trip:)

Sorry I just see you posted already Singapore road .....
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Wazza

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R2113 Na Haeo to Dan Sai.
Had the pleasure of riding this beauty yesterday. Both ends(of the good section) have switch back starts and in between, it’s a race track. Fast flowing, open, up and down, magnificent. Reminds me of the running through Santisuk to Nan (R1169) and David’s favourite, the paradise road (R1129).
Where are the photos? Heading back toward cnx tomorrow, so I might have to ride it again( if I’m not too dusty after nye) and do some photos with my action 3.
All the best for 2024.
Best regards Wazza